Beef and Broccoli Sans Grease Fire

I am not the best cook on Earth.  I'm pretty good...the food I make is at least edible, and some of it is better than others. My husband scarfs it down like it's his last meal every time we eat.  I refuse to admit that he eats super fast because he's ex-military and that is what he got used to doing in between drills, and try to make myself feel better by saying that he thinks I am the best cook ever and can't shovel it in fast enough.

Well that isn't true.  There was this one time I made cube steak and gravy...and the salt shaker kind of fell in, so to speak.  That poor, sweet man actually continued to try and eat it while assuring me it "wasn't so bad" - until I took a bite and nearly choked.  Once I verbalized how salty disgusting it was, he finally agreed and seemed pretty happy to stop eating it.  Bless his heart. ♥

I'm getting thirsty just remembering that junk.  Blecch.

Another testament to my cooking failures in the past is the time I tried to make a beef and pepper stir fry and didn't know not to let the oil get too hot.  WHOOSH!  Grease fire!  Ugh.
Sorry mom and dad.  I kind of almost burnt the house down and ruined your wok.  Oopsy.
*delicate cough*

Thankfully my kitchen prowess has gradually improved over the years.  I won't be hosting any cooking shows any time soon - in fact I chopped the very tip of my finger off just this month while chopping bacon for a frittata (yay, me!) - but there thankfully have not been any fires in the kitchen for quite some time.  I know the basics and I attend the practice makes...umm...better...school.

I have always been a thrifty girl, so when I ran across almost a pound of thinly sliced top round steak for less than four bucks, I knew I could make dinner for the two of us for super cheap even though I didn't know my dish yet.

I make it a habit of knowing the day the meat department does markdowns so I can load up and get it in the freezer for future meals.  Once you get some meals in rotation, you basically know what kinds of meats to look for, but don't be afraid to get some inexpensive and unfamiliar cuts and experiment.

Get a sharp knife and slice the meat at an angle into thin strips.  Make sure you cut against the grain so that the meat will be tender.  (that's something that took me a lot of time and dental floss to learn)  How can you tell which way the grain in meat runs?  I ran across this website that explains it quite perfectly!

As for working with any raw meat, cut on a glass (preferably) cutting board and make sure you clean everything well.  I am a huge believer in bleach kitchen spray.  Just watch your clothes...that stuff goes everywhere...I have lost some shirts that way!  Also make sure you wash your hands well after using it.  It goes without saying you don't want to ingest bleach...but for some reason my cats go insane when they smell bleach on my fingers.  It's like digital catnip.  So save your fingers from kitty teeth and claws and wash them well.

Prepare your head of broccoli by breaking down into individual florets.  I don't suggest the usage of frozen broccoli for this recipe unless you just like broccoli mush in your stir fry.  Once you have it broken down, rinse it well under running water for several minutes.

Now get ready :  make sure you have all of your ingredients ready to use, because everything goes along pretty fast from here.

Grab a heavy-bottomed skillet and start getting it hot over medium high heat.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil once the pan gets hot (any kind but I don't recommend olive oil for this...I used sesame oil). Once you add the oil to the pan,  let it coat the bottom and then immediately add the beef strips.  Stir fry until meat is no longer pink, then add 1/3 cup soy sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional), and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper.

You will want your sauce to thicken up, so you will need to make a slurry of corn starch and water.  How much you use depends on how thick your sauce will be.  For this, I used a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with about a teaspoon of water.  Make sure you stir it well before adding.  Also, it doesn't work if you just throw cornstarch in there.  Everything just gets disgusting and all glued together. You will have to trust me on this one.  Let it cook a few more minutes to thicken up.  If it isn't as thick as you like, add more slurry a little at a time, letting it cook in between so it can thicken.  You might want to taste the sauce to see if it needs salt or pepper.  Yes, even with soy sauce it can still taste bland.

When you get the sauce where you want it to be, add the broccoli, stirring to incorporate all of that wonderful sauce into the florets.  Let it cook a few minutes to soften the broccoli without overcooking it.  Mushy broccoli in stir fry is disgusting.  How do I know?  See that broccoli in that picture there?  It was almost overdone.

Enough said.

Serve this over brown (because it is better for you and the sauce helps the taste) rice.  You can steam your own or grab a bag of frozen and zap it in the microwave.  I do both, honestly, although buying rice is cheaper and steaming it yourself.  This batch made two healthy sized portions, but I could have squeezed three out of it...if we weren't starving, which we were.

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

• about 1 pound of thinly sliced beef, sliced against the grain
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• pinch red pepper (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• cornstarch for slurry

Prepare all ingredients before beginning to cook.  Put heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat until hot.  Add oil, then immediately add beef.  Stir fry until no longer pink.  Add soy sauce, pepper flakes and pepper.  Stir and then pour in slurry, allowing to cook a few minutes to thicken.  Toss in broccoli last, stirring to coat with sauce and cook a few minutes more.  Serve over rice.